Boeing’s B-29 Superfortress was the most sophisticated propeller-driven bomber of Globe War II and the first bomber to residence its crew in pressurized compartments. Though made to fight in the European theater, the B-29 identified its niche on the other side of the globe. In the Pacific, B-29s delivered a range of aerial weapons: standard bombs, incendiary bombs, mines, and two nuclear weapons.

On August 6, 1945, this Martin-constructed B-29-45-MO dropped the very first atomic weapon used in combat on Hiroshima, Japan. 3 days later, Bockscar (on display at the U.S. Air Force Museum close to Dayton, Ohio) dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. Enola Gay flew as the advance weather reconnaissance aircraft that day. A third B-29, The Great Artiste, flew as an observation aircraft on both missions.